


mission: befriend abrams

by ivermectin



Series: d&b @ nyu! [3]
Category: Gossip Girl (TV 2007)
Genre: Banter, Friendship, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans (sorta?), Lacrosse, Misunderstandings, S3 AU, Second Chances, Self-Worth Issues, a lot of blair & nate & vanessa though!!, continues directly after the last one, mild reference to canon sexual abuse, yes there's no dan in this one - i'm sorry abt that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28932144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivermectin/pseuds/ivermectin
Summary: What Vanessa says next makes Blair decide that out of all her worst decisions, this one takes the cake.
Relationships: Nate Archibald & Blair Waldorf, Vanessa Abrams & Blair Waldorf, Vanessa Abrams & Nate Archibald
Series: d&b @ nyu! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106012
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	mission: befriend abrams

**Author's Note:**

> this probably will not make any sense if you haven't read fic#2 in this series! it might make sense even if you've skipped #1, but i'd recommend reading them in the right order for the desired effect, haha. and yeah, there's no dan, but this is still a super important installment and will definitely be referenced later. if you miss dan, worry not, there's tons of him in the next chapter (which i am still working on.) 
> 
> very well, onwards!!

Blair meets Vanessa at a lacrosse match that Nate’s gotten them seats for. It’s different from most of the matches Blair’s been over to watch, because for once Nate isn’t playing; he’s talking the team through something instead, so he’s not on the field, but he’s not sitting with Blair and Vanessa either, opting to sit with his team, holding a clipboard and flashcards and looking intently serious.

Blair feels a petty stab of jealousy that Nate Archibald has found his calling before she found hers. He looks so settled, talking to his team before the match starts.

Still; she’s got to focus. Mission: Befriend Abrams is possibly her hardest mission yet.

Vanessa’s wearing jeans, but they’re dark green denim, which is strange, to say the least. These are paired with mismatched sneakers and fluorescent socks. Her hair is tied up, a ribbon trailing out of it, and she’s wearing a chequered shirt that looks like it’s been stolen from Dan’s wardrobe, which is not a compliment. She’s wearing earrings that Blair sort of likes, long strips of metal that match the clunky necklace around her neck.

Blair would never dress like Vanessa, but Vanessa dresses like a woman who knows who she is, and Blair thinks that maybe she can respect that.

She steels herself, bites her lip. Walks over to where Vanessa’s sitting, sits down awkwardly next to her.

“Hi!” Blair says.

Vanessa looks at her, expression blank. It’s not hostile, but it’s not friendly, either. “Hey,” she says, cautiously.

They share a few moments of exchanging stilted pleasantries, in which they talk about the weather, their college workload, Chuck Bass, and plans for their next break. Blair thinks this is probably the most awkward few moments of her life. She’s acutely aware of Vanessa’s distaste for her, which was a mutual feeling – until the Dan incident, she’d written Vanessa off as not worth her time. And then Dan had surprised her. Blair lets herself wonder whether she could’ve been wrong about Vanessa, too.

Unfortunately, the awkward moment only gets more awkward.

“Let’s not beat around the bush,” Vanessa says.

Blair wants to say, _what are you talking about?_ but figures that Nate’s already given Vanessa the memo. So, she says instead, “Okay, why don’t you get to it?”

What Vanessa says next makes Blair decide that out of all her worst decisions, this one takes the cake.

“Listen Blair, I’m flattered,” Vanessa tells her, “but I’m not into women.”

Blair splutters. “I’m sorry,” she says. A little rudely, she asks, “ _What_?”

Vanessa gives Blair a confused look. “Isn’t this….”

Blair cuts her off. “What exactly do you think is going on here?”

“Nate told me that you wanted to, uh, get to know me,” Vanessa says.

“Yes?” Blair gives Vanessa a _what’s not clicking_ look.

“Get to know me romantically,” Vanessa says bluntly, returning the same look to Blair.

“I – I’m not – you’re not even my type!” Blair splutters.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Vanessa says, shrugging. “Well. Your loss, I guess! Goodbye.”

“Wait, wait,” Blair puts a hand on Vanessa’s arm, and Vanessa looks at her quizzically. “If that’s what you thought was going on, why did you come?”

“I came because Nate asked me to,” Vanessa says. “However much I dislike you, your happiness means a lot to Nate, and Nate’s happiness means a lot to me. So, I came.”

“Vanessa,” Blair says, carefully, “I want to be your friend.”

“Why, exactly? Oh, don’t give me that look. You’re _Blair Waldorf._ It’s a part of a scheme, isn’t it?” Vanessa asks. And the truth is that her judgement isn’t entirely undeserved, and Blair _knows_ that.

“It’s not a scheme,” Blair says. “I really mean it. I want – you’re Dan’s best friend, and Dan’s… been really kind to me, of late, and I thought… maybe there’s a bridge that could be mended here.”

Vanessa still looks sceptical, so Blair says, “You gave _Georgina_ a second chance. Couldn’t you maybe extend that courtesy to me?”

Vanessa frowns, looking at Blair. “You’ll have to earn my friendship,” she says bluntly. “But I can give you a clean slate, and a chance. You’ve never been nice to me, Blair. Frankly, I don’t even think you’re _capable_ of being nice to me. But you’re right, I do believe in second chances.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” Blair says, falsely chirpy. “Watching this game together’s a great place to start!”

“Sure,” Vanessa says easily. “I’ve even got salt and pepper popcorn, here.”

“Oh, that’s no good,” Blair complains, but she takes a kernel and eats it anyway. “Abrams, the only good popcorn is caramel popcorn.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” Vanessa says, in a tone that is half _I don’t care what you think_ and is half _I’m laughing at you._ But there’s no malice in her expression, and it’s almost friendly. “What’ve you got?”

Blair pulls out a hip flask. Watching Vanessa’s eyes widen, she clarifies, “Iced tea. Obviously.”

Vanessa nods drily. “Ah, yes, obviously.” Still, she accepts the flask, drinks a bit. “Cheers,” she says, good-natured, as if their entire meeting hadn’t gotten off to the most awkward start possible.

The match proceeds better than Blair would’ve dared to hope, even. Vanessa, while never having played lacrosse, has dated Nate for long enough that she has an intuitive grasp on game strategy, and Blair is grudgingly impressed.

“We’ve got to get you onto the field someday,” Blair says.

“Haha, me? No,” Vanessa says, shaking her head. “Not a chance.”

Blair files it away as information for later. She’d been a co-captain of a lacrosse team once, too. She thinks she could probably train Vanessa to become a better lacrosse player than Nate. Serve _him_ right.

Blair and Vanessa finish the popcorn and iced tea (and Blair _had_ been considering bringing something alcoholic, but she’d been wanting to show that she could be considerate, if she wanted.) They’re still not _friends_ , per say, but there’s a sense of camaraderie between them that wasn’t there before. Vanessa talks as much as a sports commentator (this shouldn’t be surprising, Blair notes, the woman _is_ friends with Dan Humphrey, after all) but Blair’s always had a lot to say too, so it’s strangely enjoyable, talking nonstop in whispers all through the match while the people around them shoot them dirty looks.

Blair’s actually surprised when the match ends. She’d been having enough of a good time to not realise how fast time was passing.

“I’ll see you in class on Monday,” Vanessa says, after it’s over. “And oh, if you’re serious about this friendship thing…” she pulls out the day’s newspaper from her handbag, carefully rips out a section from the weather forecast, scribbles her phone number on it, and hands it to Blair. Blair holds the newspaper in her hand, giving Vanessa a scandalized look.

“You probably had my number already,” Vanessa says. “But just in case.”

“I could’ve just gotten it from Nate,” Blair points out. “But thanks for… the weather forecast?”

Vanessa smiles in a way that suggests that she’s laughing at Blair, but it’s friendly. Blair thinks maybe this is just how Vanessa is, that it’s nothing personal. She waves at her, and Vanessa waves back, before leaving the field, marching off in the direction of the subway, Blair presumes.

Once she’s sure Vanessa’s gone, Blair flounces off down to the field, pushing lacrosse players out of the way with single-minded focus, until she finds the person she’s looking for.

“Nate,” Blair hisses, and the prods at him with a finger. “We need to have words.”

Nate nods mildly. “Okay.”

He doesn’t look particularly concerned, or worried, so Blair thinks whatever happened wasn’t intentional.

Blair has always been able to read him like a book, and right now he’s just waiting for her to say something, looking as though he doesn’t know what to expect. So Blair gets to the point, immediately.

“Why did you tell Vanessa I wanted to date her?” Blair asks, scowling. “How did you possibly get that idea?”

Nate blinks at her for a moment, but then, immediately responds with a kind of authenticity that doesn’t seem to be fake.

“I thought it was part of your scheme,” Nate says, and she can tell that he’s being honest. “Your wanting to befriend Dan felt like you had some ulterior motive. And I thought, maybe it was Vanessa related? The way you described why you needed to be friends with her so badly sounded desperate, so I thought I’d do you a favour.”

Blair is stunned. She goes over the call in her mind’s eye, and grudgingly concludes that, _yes,_ she can understand why Nate came to such a (terrible, incorrect, appalling) conclusion.

That said….

“Do you really think it’s that strange for me to want to be friends with someone?” Blair asks, softly. “That I always need to have an ulterior motive for everything I do? Is that how you see me?”

“Isn’t that how you want to be seen?” Nate counters. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you used to revel in it, you know? You _wanted_ to be known for being ruthless and uncaring.”

“You’re one of my best friends,” Blair says, aghast. “You should’ve known better.”

The part of it that stings, though, is that Nate is _right._ Even Vanessa had commented on it. Blair had a really specific reputation, and she knew that, she’d always known that, because she’d gone to lengths to maintain that. Blair’s done everything she can to curate her image, to reclaim being a crazy bitch, done everything she can to fill the shoes of powerful girl and darling woman and sexy villainess who you don’t mess with, all at once. And what else was she to do, growing up with Nate and Serena? Things didn’t come easy to Blair; she wasn’t charismatic enough to smile her way out of trouble. She didn’t have Nate’s innocent, naïve, clueless eyes, or Serena’s easy giggles and warm expression.

Blair wanted to be powerful. She didn’t want to be a bad person, but, well. If the shoe fits.

Nate frowns at her, thoughtful. “You’re a lot of things, you know that I know that, right? I don’t think that’s _all_ you are.”

“It was what I had to do,” Blair tells Nate. She leans against him, all her anger drained out. “It was who I had to be. It was the only way anybody would take me seriously.”

“Do you really believe that?” Nate asks, quietly. He sounds serious, a lot more serious than she’s used to from him. Blair wonders if he understands her better than she thinks – making up a palatable character to play out to hide nuance and vulnerability. Dumb pretty blonde boy and ruthless cold-hearted bitch are safer people to be than Nate Archibald and Blair Waldorf, even if it’s reductive. It’s easier. It means that Nate and Blair don’t get hurt.

“I’m not you or Serena,” Blair points out. “People just… meet you, and love you immediately. I’m not that.”

“People use us for our own means, too,” Nate says, and he looks impossibly sad for a moment. “Case in point: Catherine. Do you know how many times I wished I could be a different person? If that would mean that none of it had happened to me?”

“Nate,” Blair says, impossibly soft. “That wasn’t your fault. She took advantage of you.”

Nate shrugs, gives her a magazine-cover smile that doesn’t meet his eyes. Blair suddenly and furiously wants to put arsenic in Anne and Howard’s champagne.

“Most of the time, you can’t control how people see you,” Nate says. “That’s what I’m saying, Blair, it’s… it doesn’t matter who I am, or who you are. There are always going to be people who look at us and decide who we are so that it’ll fit _their_ agenda.”

“I’m usually the one who does that to people,” Blair says, too honest. She thinks, suddenly, of Little Jenny Humphrey. Blair had intentionally pushed her, just to see Jenny shove back. It had felt good at the time, maybe. But now she thinks about it – about the shame of needing to make someone two years younger than her ashamed about herself, just so that Blair could feel good. The feeling she’s been denying ever since Rachel got her acceptance to Yale rescinded, and everything came crashing down around her flares up again. “I think I deserve you thinking the worst of me.”

Nate puts an arm around her. “No,” he says, and he says it with certainty. “You may have done those things, but they were defence mechanisms for you. What matters is that you’re trying to be better now.”

Blair puts one of her arms around his waist, leans against him. “Thank you,” she murmurs, softly. “You’ve always been the best one out of us, Nate.”

Nate laughs softly, rolling his eyes. “Oh, come on. I wasn’t exactly a gentleman to you when we were together.”

“Still,” Blair murmurs. “Look at you now.”

“Look at _you_ now,” Nate counters. “So, becoming friends with Dan and Vanessa is a part of being the new and improved Blair?”

“I think so,” Blair says. “I don’t know who the new Blair is.”

“College is a time for finding out, after all,” Nate points out.

“Dan said something very similar,” Blair says, giving Nate a thoughtful look. “How’s it going for you?”

“It’s okay,” Nate says. “I got invited to some secret society, but it was just rich kids, and I wanted to break _free_ from that, you know? So I turned them down.”

Blair whistles through her teeth. “I wasn’t aware people _ever_ turn them down.”

“Well, there’s always a first,” Nate points out. “You and I have to be our own people. Whatever that means.”

“Right now, it means that I need to befriend Vanessa,” Blair says. “Could you possibly help?”

Nate frowns, thinking. “Yes,” he says. “Yes, absolutely, I think I can.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this!! more coming soon.  
> feel free to pop over @ my tumblr, bisexualdanhumphrey, and say hi, if you're so obliged :')


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